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SAN FRANCISCO – Two Christian legal groups filed lawsuits this week to overturn a first-of-its-kind California law that prohibits licensed mental health professionals from practicing therapies aimed at making gay and lesbian teenagers straight.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed the bill Sept. 31. It will go into effect Jan. 1, 2013.

Senate Bill 1172 was introduced by state Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance and was co-sponsored by Equality California, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Gaylesta, Courage Campaign, Lambda Legal, and Mental Health America of Northern California, and supported by dozens of organizations.

The California-based Pacific Justice Institute filed its lawsuit Monday and the Florida-based Liberty Counsel filed suit Thursday. The lawsuits were filed in U.S. District Court in Sacramento. Both groups claim the bill violates the First Amendment and equal protection rights.

The Pacific Justice Institute filed its suit on behalf of family therapist Donald Welsch, an ordained minister; Antony Duk, a Roman Catholic psychiatrist and Aaron Bitzer a Culver City man who said he has benefited from the “gay cure” therapy.

Brown called the therapies “quackery” that “have no basis in science or medicine.”

(The loopy and absurd technique also became infamous after the 2007 “South Park” episode “Cartman Sucks.”
Butters Stotch’s parents thought he was “bi-curious” and sent to him a
pray-the-gay-away camp, where several youth committed suicide after
being told they were sexually confused.)

Mainstream associations representing psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers have dismissed reparative therapy in recent decades as being ineffective and potentially dangerous to the mental health of teenagers and young adults who are led to believe their interest in same-sex partners is wrong.

(Photo: Butters Scotch said he was “bi-curious” and sent away to gay camp to change his sexual confusion in a episode of “South Park.” Photo courtesy of Comedy Central.)

Legislative Counsel, the in-house attorney for the Legislature charged
with helping ensure proposed laws are legal and pass constitutional
muster, the Senate Judiciary Committee and Gov. Brown’s office all said
the bill does not violate the First Amendment or equal protection
rights.

David Codell, Equality California Board Member and pro
bono counsel said the law fits squarely within a well-established set of
laws designed to protect minors from harmful practices by licensed
professionals.

The law only applies to licensed therapists, not ministers or lay people who counsel teens to resist same-sex attractions.

It
states that mental health providers who use sexual orientation change
efforts on clients under 18 would be engaging in unprofessional conduct
and subject to discipline by their respective state licensing boards.

As
originally written, the bill introduced by state Sen. Ted Lieu,
D-Torrance, also would have required therapists to warn adult patients
of the practice’s risks and limitations and to obtain their written
consent before engaging in it.

Lieu dropped the informed consent
provision, however, after a number of mental health associations in
California — including the California Psychological Association and the
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists — complained
that it interfered with the therapist-client relationship.

Both groups, as well as the other leading professional groups, ultimately endorsed the ban for juveniles.

It remained unclear how many practitioners and patients the law would affect.

David
Pruden, vice president of the California-based National Association for
Research and Therapy on Homosexuality, a professional association that
supports treatment for homosexuality, estimated there are two dozen
therapists statewide who engage in efforts to change sexual orientation,
and not all of them treat adolescents.